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DESIGN AND ANALYSIS WITH NUMERICAL METHOD OF GANTRY CRANE

MAIN BEAM

Conference Paper · September 2013

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 International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS WITH NUMERICAL METHOD OF GANTRY

CRANE MAIN BEAM
I. Gerdemeli 1, G. Akgun 2, S. Kurt3
1,3 Istanbul Technical University, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Inonu cad no:87, Gumussuyu, Taksim,
34437, Istanbul Turkey
2 Istanbul Technical University, Graduate School of Science Engineering and Technology, ITU Ayazaga
Campus, Maslak, 34439, Istanbul Turkey

Keywords: Gantry crane, Main beam, Design and analysis, Finite element method.

Abstract. Nowadays, mostly in shipbuilding, gantry cranes are needed in many areas. With evolving
technology, the sizes of the structures are growing too. Generally, in the construction of these structures gantry
cranes are preferred for lifting heavy loads. In this study, a 2x400 ton gantry crane main beam is designed and
analysis with numerical method is performed. The working load acting on the main beam is 800 tons. In the
analysis of the main beam construction, the self-weight of the main beam, working load and dynamic loads
arising due to the crane movements are considered. After analytical calculations, the main beam is modeled as
a three dimensional design and the analysis of the construction is performed using finite element method with
the help of an analyses program. The analysis is performed for three cases. In the first case, the analysis is
performed by considering only self-weight of the main beam. In the second case, the analysis performed under
the influence of working load (while two trolleys on the main beam are in various positions); and in the third
case, both the working load and the dynamic loads arising due to the crane movements are considered in the
analysis. In this study, the stress values obtained from the analysis are examined and it is identified that some
regions in the design are needed to be revised and the results obtained from analytical calculations are
compared with the results obtained with the finite element method. As a result, using finite element method in
the analysis is appropriate and this method provides great convenience in the calculations.
Introduction
Shipping has a very high importance about travelling of people and transportation of commercial goods around the world. In the
construction phase of the ships, many massive parts might be necessary for construction and need to be moved. Mostly in shipyards, and
in many other places gantry cranes are preferred to transport massive parts.
In this paper, a 2x400 ton gantry crane main beam is designed. Analytical stress calculations and analysis with numerical method are
made. Afterwards the results of analytical calculations and analysis are compared and discussed.

Design and Model

Cranes are designed in order to the requirements of the working conditions in the enterprise. The predetermined technical datas of
the 2x400 ton gantry crane are shown in the Table 1.

Table 1. Technical data of the 2x400 ton gantry crane

Crane type Gantry crane

Lifting capacity 2 x 400000 kg
Length of the trolley rail 100000 mm
Useful lifting height 60000 mm
Material St 37-2, St 52-3

On the basis of the above data, it can be said that the usable length of the main beam is 100 meters. The full length of the main beam
is 106 meters. The main dimensions and 3-D model of the gantry crane are shown in the Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Main dimensions and 3-D model of the gantry crane

 International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

As previously mentioned, in this study the main beam of the 2x400 ton gantry crane is examined. In the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 main
dimensions and 3-D model of the main beam are shown and in the Fig. 4 the cross-sectional dimensions and properties of the main beam
is given.

Fig. 2 Main dimensions of the main beam

Fig. 3 3-D model of the main beam

Cross-sectional properties:

Moments of inertia:

Ix = 12178337710899 mm4
Iy = 5898518861879 mm4

Section area:

As = 1132675 mm2

Elastic section modulus:

Wx = 2876999223 mm3
Wy = 2359407545 mm3

Fig. 4 Cross-sectional dimensions and properties of the main beam

This gantry crane system works with two trolleys which go on the rails above the main beam. There are two rails 100 meter long on
the main beam. The trolleys work synchronously to lift the working load. Each trolley has a hook block connected with ropes and each hook
block can lift 400 tons maximum. As shown in the Fig. 3, reinforcing structures are used inside the main beam structure. Wrinkle plates are
used every 2 meters in order to prevent the wrinkling of the outer plates. Also long steel profiles are used for strengthening the structure.

Analytical Calculations
Before making the stress calculations of the main beam, loading combinations should be mentioned. There are three cases of loading
as shown below.
 Self-weight loading (SW)
 Static loading (ST)
 Dynamic loading (DY)
In the first case (SW case), only the self-weight of the main beam is taken into account. In the second case (ST case); as well as
self-weight, working load (Gw), trolley weight (Gtr) and hook block weight (Ghb) are taken into account. Finally in the third case (DY case),
also dynamic loads are included to the calculations.
In DY case, two coefficients are used. One of them is “lifting coefficient ψ” and the other one is “life factor γc”. In Fig. 5 a graphic for
choosing lifting coefficient is shown.

Fig. 5 Choosing lifting coefficient ψ

 International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

The maximum lifting speed of the gantry crane is 4 m/min, so the lifting coefficient is chosen as ψ = 1.15. The operating class of the
gantry crane is A5 according to the norms of FEM (Federation Europeenne de la Manutention) [1]. For the A5 operating class, the life
factor is chosen as γc = 1.11 according to the norms of FEM.

k = ψ. γc (1)

In the Eq. (1), k is the impact factor and has a value 1.276.
Also each trolley can be at various positions on the main beam. These situation creates more combinations of loading. In this study,
three cases are considered. In the first case (case 1) both of the trolleys are at the nearest position to the left side of the main beam. In the
second case (case 2) both of the trolleys are at the center of the main beam. It must be noted that trolleys can approach to each other
maximum 10 meters. In the third case (case 3) both of the trolleys are at the nearest position to the right side of the main beam.
There is a general free body diagram of the main beam given at Fig. 6 and a table which shows the dimension combinations given at
Table 2.

Fig. 6 Free body diagram of the main beam

It is assumed that each trolley applies a single load P from the center of the trolley (it must be noted that each trolley has a length of
6 meters). The dimension combinations is given at the Table 2.

Table 2. Dimension combinations of loadings

a (mm) b (mm) c (mm) L (mm)

Case 1 16000 7000 83000 106000
Case 2 16000 45000 45000 106000
Case 3 16000 85000 5000 106000

Table 3. Load combinations

SELF-WEIGHT
WORKING LOAD DYNAMIC LOAD
Comb. Main Trolley Hook block
beam Left Center Right Left Center Right Left Center Right Left Center Right
SW 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
ST1 1 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - - - -
ST2 1 - 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - - -
ST3 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - -
DY1 1.11 1.11 - - 1.276 - - 1.276 - - 1 - -
DY2 1.11 - 1.11 - - 1.276 - - 1.276 - - 1 -
DY3 1.11 - - 1.11 - - 1.276 - - 1.276 - - 1

As shown in the Table 3, there are seven loading combinations. The coefficients that is used in the calculations are shown in this
table. Another point that should be addressed is the wind load. In such big crane systems, the crane must be parked when the wind speed
limit is exceeded and this speed limit is generally very low because of occupational safety. So, in this study the wind load is included in the
dynamic load. In the calculations dynamic load is considered as 1/30 of the total load.
The needed data in the calculations are shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. The needed data in the calculations

Working load Gw = 400000 kg

Main beam self-weight Gmb = 1040000 kg
Hook block weight Ghb = 37000 kg
Trolley weight Gtr = 60000 kg

The weights given above are used in static calculations. In dynamic calculations these weights are multiplied with impact factor k and
life factor γc. The weight values that are used in the dynamic calculations are shown in the Eq. (2), Eq. (3), Eq. (4) and Eq. (5).

Gdw = k.Gw (2)

Gdmb = γc.Gmb (3)

Gdhb = k.Ghb (4)

Gdtr = γc.Gtr (5)

The total dynamic load is calculated with the Eq. (6).

 International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

P = Gdw + Gdhb + Gdtr (6)

The maximum moments occurred by total dynamic load are given in Eq. (7), Eq. (8) and Eq. (9) for the cases of DY1, DY2 and DY3
respectively.

Mload = [P.(2.b+a) / L].c (7)

Mload = P.b (8)

Mload = [P.(2.c+a) / L].b (9)

The maximum moment occurred by the self-weight of the main beam is calculated with the Eq. (10)

Msw = q.L2 / 8 (10)

where; q is the weight of the main beam per meter.

Also a moment about Y axis is occurred because of the dynamic load and it is calculated with the Eq. (11).

My = Mload / 30 (11)

The stress occurred about X axis is calculated as shown in the Eq. (12).

σx = (Mload + Msw) / Wx (12)

The stress occurred about Y axis is calculated as shown in the Eq. (13).

σy = My / Wy (13)

The shear stress occurred in the main beam is calculated with the Eq. (14).

τ = P / As (14)

Finally the total equivalent stress occurred in the main beam is calculated as shown in the Eq. (15).

σeqv = [(σx + σy)2 + 3.τ2]1/2 (15)

All σeqv values are calculated for each load combination and shown in the Table 5 below.

Table 5. σeqv values for all load combinations (MPa)

Load Combination SW ST1 ST2 ST3 DY1 DY2 DY3

σeqv (MPa) 52 92 129 88 106 152 101

Analysis with Numerical Method

After making analytical calculations, the stress analyse of the main beam is performed. The method used in analysing of the main
beam is finite element method. In this method, the solution region is divided into a large number of small, simple and interconnected
sub-regions called finite elements [2]. Then each stress occurred on these elements are solved by the help of computers. So the method
allows us to get over the stress results in the whole system. In this study, for making the analyses of the main beam; the computer software
Ansys Workbench is used.
The stress results obtained by the analyses are shown in the Fig. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 for each load combination SW, ST1, ST2,
ST3, DY1, DY2, DY3 respectively. Also it must be noted that, in the results the maximum stress values is very large because of stress
concentrations at the supports of the main beam and this is a programmatically problem. So that the maximum stress values are not
considered important in the results.
In the result figures, front views and bottom views of the main beam are given because the maximum stress occurs at the bottom
plate of the main beam.

Fig. 7 SW load case results

International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

Fig. 8 ST1 load case results

Fig. 9 ST2 load case results

Fig. 10 ST3 load case results

Fig. 11 DY1 load case results

Fig. 12 DY2 load case results

 International Conference on Innovative Technologies, IN-TECH 2013,
Budapest, 10. - 12.09.2013

Fig. 13 DY3 load case results

Conclusion
The design and analysis with numerical method of gantry crane main beam is presented. Analytical stress calculations and stress
analysis with numerical method in different load combination cases are studied. The comparison between the analytical calculation results
and analyse results is given in the Table 6.

Table 6. Results comparison

Load Combination SW ST1 ST2 ST3 DY1 DY2 DY3

σeqv (MPa) 52 92 129 88 106 152 101
σeqv (MPa) 47 78 124 84 89 147 97

As presented in the Table 6, all of the stress results are under the allowable stress value of St 37-2 steel. The allowable stress for St
37-2 steel is 160 MPa for static loading and 180 MPa for dynamic loading.
Generally it is expected that the difference between the analytical calculation results and analysis results may be maximum %20. So,
the results obtained in the study are acceptable.
However, it can be easily seen that the difference between the results of ST1 and DY1 cases are bigger than the other differences.
This is so because the gantry crane has two legs which carry the main beam and one of them is (left side leg) rigidly supported to the main
beam and the other one is (right side leg) jointed supported to the main beam. Rigid leg must carry more load than the jointed leg, so the
left side of the main beam has a stronger inside structure. Hence the difference between the results of ST1 and DY1 is high.

References

[1] F.E.M., 1998. 1.001 3rd ed. 1998.10.01.

[2] M. A. S. Arıkan: Sonlu Elemanlar Metodunun Mühendislikte Uygulamaları, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
[3] F. P. Beer, E. R. Johnston, J. T. DeWolf: Mechanics of Materials, 3rd ed. (2002).
[4] I. Gerdemeli: Advanced Topics in Transport Technics Lecture Notes.

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